Eid celebrations

[Alex50]

I’ve just driven down a road where the local community are celebrating Eid, going into each other’s houses, one terraced house looked like it had 50 people in. My couldn’t how many they could fit in a small area. Are people mumsnet celebrating Eid at the moment?

I’m not happy today.

The family opposite our house are celebrating Eid. The rules in our area are clear - 2 households mixing as described upthread.

So far today we have had 14 cars visit, each one with 4+ people in. Every knock at the door has been greeted with hugs and double kisses and the exchange of food boxes. Each exit has been given in the same way. At one stage there were 14 children in the garden which tells you how many adults were indoors.

This is OUR community. The ridiculous and selfish behaviour is beyond comprehension. One of the Male adults who lives in the house works serving in a local shop and doesn’t wear a mask or gloves.

And as others have said - celebration or not - I would not do this. I am in my bubble with my DM and already we have said this is who we will only likely be able to spend Xmas with this year. For DM (who has barely missed a Sunday in church all her life - Irish catholic with devout followings) this is a massive thing. But she will not do it because safety comes first.

It’s utterly taking the piss. As this massive gathering is still in full swing I am very very close to calling the non-emergency police line.

It’s not about Eid, it’s about saving lives. These people should not have been arranging large gatherings anyway. They have spoilt it for everyone else who have been keeping to the rules. We missed Easter this year and no doubt Christmas will be much the same, but these are unprecedented times, we must social distance, that’s all of us, whatever ethnic background you are in. It’s affecting everyone, some people are just being so arrogant. Where has common sense gone?

As for people blaming the government, well they are blamed if they don’t act quick enough, then if they act quickly they get blamed again.

The beaches were full of people today, My local pub garden and indoors were full when I walked past. So was the park. Three of my nearby neighbours had huge bbqs tonight (they were not celebrating Eid to be clear). Even though I'm just in a northern closure zone! The closest city in said lockdown zone is buzzing with people in pubs tonight. Why do you have a problem with Eid but not the many other ways people are mixing?

I'm very cautious and avoiding contact but if they told me to cancel Christmas day with my family at three hours notice... would I? As a christian who loves Christmas, most probably not.

"These people should not have been arranging large gatherings"

"These people"

Nice language you've got there.

Every pub in the land including the areas with lockdown measures was as busy tonight.

Would you have been happy with Eid celebrations if they went to the pub? (Which obviously they can't)

We missed Easter. But we more than made up for it woth VE Day. Families were mixing and singing in our village.

Also. It's a very hot night. How do you know they were celebrating indoors and not walking through to the garden for an outdoor celebration?

Gosh this thread is full of the people polishing their fingernails at the sharpness of their wisecracks. What? There's a pandemic on? I honestly had no idea.

I watched the news tonight and they interviewed a group of young women (late teens/early twenties) in an area in the new restrictions, obviously out drinking, no social distancing and saying they were going to be staying over together. When asked about breaking the rules they all said they were being careful and didn’t want to make their parents ill. But they obviously didn’t care, I despair watching people act like that. That is why the rate has gone up in young people.

There have been many posters on here worrying and complaining about how people acted during VE
Day celebrations and crowding on the beaches. Complaining about large gatherings for EID is just the same, it is not racist.

And there is no way we will be planning large Christmas celebrations.

I wish people were being more sensible. I have a teenager going into Y11, I just want schools to be able to open with as little disruption as possible. But with so many people doing their own thing it isn’t going to happen

The park near us is packed with large groups (20+) - young people (sitting on the grass) and large ME families (tables, chairs, maids bringing plates of food) and people having celebration parties, also what look like flash mobs of young people who all rock up on bikes, sit on the grass with bottles of hard liquor (whisky, rum - not wine) and smoke weed.

So the families are ok but the groups of people - those young people generally certainly aren’t keeping their distance and they are doing siblings (and too young to be living together as couples or even FE students). They will have parents and grandparents. Neighbours, pass people on the street, stand next to people in the cafe queue...

People say they are being careful but how? No mask, no distance, sharing glasses/bottles... they will most likely be absolutely ok but can pass it on. What don’t they understand? Maybe they’ve never watched a close relative go through chemo to see how careful you have to be not to spread infection.

The issue we now have with young people and teens is that since March they were being told that this doesn't seem to affect them, they won't get ill, they are less likely to transmit it, etc.

Mix those types of messages which were all over media and places like Mn with the teen/yp natural beliefs that they are invisible and you get this result - YP out and about doing their thing and hanging out with friends.

After months of claiming that young people, teens and children's are generally okay with this virus we are now trying to pull them back and say actually that's not the case anymore and you're now to blame for transmission.

It's a difficult one now, and it stems yet again from the mixed and ever changing messages.

I agree the poster saying it’s short notice and would you cancel Christmas the night before.

It’s totally pathetic OP. There has been lots of gathers recently football matches... protests... street parties (general).

Like another poster said they are in close proximity at work with their colleagues.

Are you WFM or shielding OP?

@Mindy98

"These people should not have been arranging large gatherings"

"These people"

Nice language you've got there.

Every pub in the land including the areas with lockdown measures was as busy tonight.

Would you have been happy with Eid celebrations if they went to the pub? (Which obviously they can't)

Exactly this.

@Nomorewineever

I’m not happy today.

The family opposite our house are celebrating Eid. The rules in our area are clear - 2 households mixing as described upthread.

So far today we have had 14 cars visit, each one with 4+ people in. Every knock at the door has been greeted with hugs and double kisses and the exchange of food boxes. Each exit has been given in the same way. At one stage there were 14 children in the garden which tells you how many adults were indoors.

This is OUR community. The ridiculous and selfish behaviour is beyond comprehension. One of the Male adults who lives in the house works serving in a local shop and doesn’t wear a mask or gloves.

And as others have said - celebration or not - I would not do this. I am in my bubble with my DM and already we have said this is who we will only likely be able to spend Xmas with this year. For DM (who has barely missed a Sunday in church all her life - Irish catholic with devout followings) this is a massive thing. But she will not do it because safety comes first.

It’s utterly taking the piss. As this massive gathering is still in full swing I am very very close to calling the non-emergency police line.

Hahahahaha call them. See what it achieves.

end of the day we all know now if u go abroad u could find air travel suddenly restricted and a two week quarantine imposed. .so if u still decide to go then you now go knowing the risk so deal with it and don't moan and cry of it happens

We know since leicester lockdown, that if cases rise in your area your at risk of short norice lockdoan restrictions...so understand that and don't moan if it happens cos you're been told what can happen

We know celebrations or plans may have to be cancelled or reduced if your area goes into lockdown so if u decide to plan for big gathering then be prepared and mange expectations that if your area is locked down or even nationally applied plans can change

This is life right now and at least for rest of the year

Accept this and life is not going to be stressful, tearful or upsetting.

The families meeting outside are probably all going to be fine, at least they're trying to be safer while still seeing each other. The risks indoors versus outside are so different it should be different discussion topics. Teenagers sharing drinks or smoking is idiotic, but has been happening up and down the country since the start of lockdown and isn't new nor special to Eid.

A flow of people in and out of houses will of course be likely to get a big rise in infections, particularly in communities WHO KNOW IT'S SPREADING IN THEIR LOCAL AREA. At this point nobody can claim ignorance of the fact it spreads more indoors, nor that there were already restrictions on visitors to max 2 households, but it's very stupid behaviour. What percentage of people actually is it though? I'd be willing to bet you've got over 2 million who are doing something small at home to celebrate Eid with just their own household, or doing something distanced outside. The few thousand idiots are much more visible because they're noisy and obviously out and about, but it's probably still within 80% compliance rates or whatever it is that's needed to make a dent in infections.

If it were Christmas, we wouldn't be seeing family if either area had case levels as high as Blackburn, because we don't want to make each other ill. There can't be a full family Christmas under current guidelines anyway, because of the number of households and relatives working outside the house increase risks too much for the older family members if they're inside. We already missed family Easter, without complaining. Some didn't and some percentage won't comply at Christmas either regardless of rules or infection rates. We're in the compliant group, happier remaining uninfected and leave the non-compliant ones to be sorry when it's them and their relatives who get unwell.

People going to Spain/in Spain were given short notice of quarantine and I’d say that was more inconvenient! In both cases people should have been wary that this was a possibility.

More needs to be made of the fact that it is the young that are transmitting the virus. So much has been said about how it doesn’t impact them, they don’t get very ill or die, and I suppose erroneously it was thought they didn't get it. So they are going about life without a care.

I assume they are now testing sample groups and are finding that they are the main transmitters in the community.

Obviously there will be some who don’t care but the message needs to get out there.

Also more needs to be said about the long term effects rather than the death rates.

I’m not Muslim but I think it’s racism. Cancelling Eid just hours before is ridiculous. It’s like the hope after all this awfulness suddenly being pulled from you. I’m outraged for my neighbours to be honest.

I would be very wary of having a large family Christmas which involves teenagers/young adults and elderly grandparents. That could be a recipe for disaster, which I assume is possibly happening with large Eid celebrations too.

@Dancingdeer77

I’m not Muslim but I think it’s racism. Cancelling Eid just hours before is ridiculous. It’s like the hope after all this awfulness suddenly being pulled from you. I’m outraged for my neighbours to be honest.

I agree. What a bunch of hypocrites when they are flocking to the beaches I hope they hold the same view. What makes me laugh is that most of the people complaining are speaking as though their local pubs were empty yesterday... I bet they were rammed.

@Dancingdeer77 - It isn't racism to try to stop people from getting ill, that would be the reverse, someone saying "fuck it, doesn't matter if that lot die". The rules on meeting others are to try to reduce infection rates, they aren't a punishment because someone doesn't like someone else.

Cancelling Eid just hours before is ridiculous

Eid hasn't been cancelled. It would still occur if everybody just stayed at home. Just like Christmas or Easter would/did under similar circumstances.

I just don’t believe that when pubs around here are heaving. It’s fine if you’re a 60 man who smokes and drinks too much to be welcomed back to your weatherspoons but wow betide a Muslim mum who wants to celebrate an important religious festival with her wider family. It’s BS

I am sure if they find that transmission is high in pubs then they will close or guidance will get stricter with them eg outside only. Other countries have had to do that.

I am sure they will need to change things again if they want schools opening without too much disruption.

A poster on another thread was saying they think pubs need to be closed again in Manchester. It isn't crowded like that round here, but if they're causing infection spikes in your area then they'll have to close too. Without warning.